Star Wars Episode 8

“The Last Jedi” is scheduled to hit theaters December 15, 2017, and that’s not nearly soon enough for die-hard “Star Wars” fans. Last month an intriguing and somewhat mystifying first teaser trailer was unveiled at Star Wars Celebration, and it certainly set the precedent for a half year of “Star Wars” excitement, speculation, and even outrage. So, here we go; a roundup of what you must know about the next installment of the “Star Wars” saga.

“It’s time for the Jedi to end.”

This fateful quote ends the first “Episode VIII” trailer, and what a teaser it is. There’s a lot of theories and no way to know if “The Last Jedi” refers to Luke himself or Rey, or if, as this CinemaBlend article reminds us, “Does the fact that Jedi is the plural of Jedi factor in?”

The case of the moving scar…

With the release of the above trailer, director Rian Johnson found himself in some Twitter awkwardness. It seems some keen-eyed fans noticed that Kylo Ren’s scar that he received from Rey at the end of “The Force Awakens” (which was directed by JJ Abrams) had moved. According to a Mashable article, Johnson at first denied the move — from across Kylo’s nose to over his eye — and then admitted it, saying, “It honestly looked goofy running straight up the bridge of his nose.” And as the article concludes, “If there’s one sin in ‘Star Wars’ world greater than a continuity error, it’s goofiness.”

The “Force Tree.”

There’s been some talk about trees entering the “Star Wars” universe, so much so that DigitalSpy dubbed the episode “Weird Trees Rising,” causing the London Natural History Museum wrap party to take on great significance!

Princess Leia lives on.

by jimivr on flickr

After the sudden sad death of beloved Carrie Fisher last December, seeing her on screen alive in all her General Leia Organa glory will surely be a bittersweet experience. All filming for “Episode VIII” had wrapped before her death, but according to the Hollywood Reporter, she was to play an even bigger role in Episode IX. This means the producers and directors have some difficult problems to solve. They may have to cut her scenes in Episode VIII, or attempt to create Princess Leia using CGI as they did in “Rogue One.”

The good, the bad, and the newcomers.

As for the rest of the cast, Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy assured fans at “The Force Awakens” premiere that all the cast in attendance would be returning — which means that Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Anthony Daniels and Lupita Nyong’o will be back, according to an article at DigitalSpy, as well as Mark Hamill, who will “finally get to do something as old man Luke Skywalker other than stand around looking serious.” Rumors regarding his relationship to Rey and his powers abound, including a theory that he may be able to “crash a First Order Star Destroyer” using the Force.

Joining the cast is Benicio del Toro as (maybe) a villain, definitely in black, and Laura Dern, who will be outrageously glamorous (possibly with pink hair), but as for how they fit into the epic’s genealogy, all is on a strictly need-to-know basis — Dern apparently won’t even tell her own kids…

Who and what do you hope to see in “Episode VIII”? Let us know in the comments below.

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